Ireland ranks 8th in the world on Global Innovation Index 2015

The Global Innovation Index (GII), released for the first time in 2007, has swiftly become a widely used metric for assessing the state of innovation in various countries.

Since 2007, Ireland’s ranking has climbed steadily from 21st, breaking the top 10 in 2012 before dipping to 11th last year.

This year sees Ireland breaking the top 10 again, leapfrogging to 8th place.

Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) has welcomed Ireland’s return to the top tier of innovative countries.

“Innovation is a critical part of Ireland’s economic recovery and social process, and the Irish Government, academia and industry have been committed to investing strategically in innovative development. This ranking highlights that our collective sustained investment is working,” said Professor Mark Ferguson, Director General of SFI and Chief Scientific Adviser to the Government of Ireland.

Prof Ferguson went on to highlight Ireland’s first place ranking in IT trade “in terms of communications, computer and information services exports, and foreign direct investment outflows”.

Joining Ireland in the top 10 are Switzerland (1st, with the highest possible score), the UK (2nd), Sweden (3rd), Netherlands (4th), the US (5th), Finland (6th), Singapore (7th), Luxembourg (9th) and Denmark (10th).

Europe, in fact, has a particularly strong showing, not only in the top 10 but in the top 25. This has prompted Johan Aurik, Managing Partner and Chairman of the Board at AT Kearney – a global management consulting firm that contributed to the Index – to call for improvements to regulations and legislation that could support innovation down the line.

The GII is co-published by Cornell Universtiy, INSEAD and the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO). It surveys 141 economies and uses 79 indicators to determine rankings.

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